Essay structure

With essays, you have a lot of freedom with the structure you use. Perhaps your course or teacher will give you general guidelines to follow. However, you are often free to choose how you structure your essay. To make sure you get it right, we will give you a few tips aboutwhat a good essay structure looks like.

Keep in mind that you have a lot of freedom regarding how you frame your essay, especially your argument The exact essay structure depends a lot on the arguments you make and how you connect them. 

The most common type of essay is the argumentative essay, although other types of essays also exist. Thus, the structure for the argumentative essay is fairly free, but usually consists of the following basic elements:

1. The title of the essay. Choose a catchy title that conveys your topic clearly but alsoattracts attention. If necessary, you can add a subtitle. Often you must put your name, student number and any additional details (such as your lecturer or the name of the subject) under the title.

2. A catchy introduction. Make sure you come in strong from the start, opening with, for example, a quote, a statement or an anecdote. Then expand a little by giving background information and take a stand on the topic. Keep your introduction concise, and get to the point quickly.

3. The argument. Substantiate your point of view by organizing your thoughts in clear arguments. Logically structure the paragraphs. Start with the most important information (the argument itself) and then introduce evidence for the argument. Also, make sure the arguments are coherent. Signal words like 'also', 'moreover', 'but' or 'although' can help you with this.

4. Counterarguments. In a powerful essay, you not only provide arguments that support your position but also name any arguments against it. You refute those counterarguments and provide evidence for the refutation. Can't refute the counterarguments? Then include them as side notes in your conclusion.

5. The conclusion. Based on the arguments and (refuted) counterarguments, write the conclusion. In it, summarise the statement and the arguments you discussed. Based on this, come to a conclusion. Thus, use the 'In short:...' sentence. End the conclusion with, for instance, an appealing one-liner or a preview of possible future developments. Make sure your conclusion rounds out the text and connects to the anecdote or question you raised in the introduction.

6. Literature list. Just like a thesis, you should end an essay with a bibliography. Include all of the sources you have used. Use the APA style or the Guidelines for Legal Authors, depending on which reference style is commonly used in your programme.

It is important not to start writing without a plan. After all, you want to know what goal you are writing towards. Therefore, first make a writing scheme, outlining what you want to discuss in general terms. Decide what your research statement is, go into detail about possible arguments and look for counterarguments. Once you have incorporated this information into a writing scheme, you can then approach the writing process more efficiently.

In addition, we have some tips. Note the following:

• The writing style for an essay is less formal than a thesis. Keep your style serious though, and try not to come off as too funny or colloquial. However, you may write in a more light-hearted manner compared to how you would in theses or research papers.

• Be clear and avoid unnecessary jargon. Make sure the text is understandable to the reader, even if they are not an expert in your topic. 

• Use signal words to make the flow of the essay clear. These could be words like 'firstly', 'briefly' or 'on the other hand'. 

• Maintain a smooth writing style. Don't make your sentences too long, keep your paragraphs short, and write actively. Whenever possible, avoid sentences like "Many people have done research on this." Better is "Many scientists have researched this.". 

• Use intermediate headings to make the content of paragraphs clear at a glance. 

Want to make sure that your essay is structurally sound and that you haven't made any awkward language mistakes? Get your essay checked by us. The editors of AthenaCheck are happy to do this for you. This way, you can dot the 'i's',cross the ‘t’s’, and make sure you can hand in a strongly written essay.